The document discusses the progression of the student's media products from their preliminary task to the full product. It describes how the student's skills improved as they learned to make their magazines look more professional and realistic using techniques like paying attention to detail in real magazines. They also learned how to take better photos and present information and layouts in a more conventional style that would appeal to the intended audience. The student reflects that they have highly progressed in using technologies like Fireworks and presenting their work in a way that looks more polished and suitable for their target music magazine genre.

1. Media Evaluation Sophie Manley

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? My media products use, develop and challenge the forms and conventions of real media products. I did this by paying attention to detail in different rock magazines and using some of there ideas in my products that I produced. I also challenged the forms and conventions by using the ideas off other magazines but displaying them in a different way. Overall in my media projects I used conventional methods to present my work but in some of my work I did try and use unconventional methods to see what it would look like. For instance in my final contents page I used ideas off another contents page to make my magazine to look conventional. I used pictures and slogans on the page to explain to the audience what was inside the magazine. I placed the information on the left hand side because it looks conventional. In my other projects that I have made I have used some in conventional methods to display my magazine. For example on a mock up of a front page I used a bright background instead of a dark background. Usually in rock/indie magazines dark and dull colours are used because it attracts that kind of audience more because of the type of music that it represents and that it portrays. Final Contents Page Mock up of my front cover

3. . How does your media product represent particular social groups ? My media product represents particular social groups by focusing on a pacific type of music. I purposely made my products to attract a variety of social groups ranging from ‘indie’ to ‘metal’. I didn’t want to attract one type of social group who liked one type of music because in a marketing business this means that the targeted audience would be restricted. I thought that it would be better to use a range a music that is similar than concentrating on one type of music such as rock or Indie. Also I used dark colours to attract the right kind of audience because by seeing dark colours this automatically catches the right kind of audience who would want to buy the magazine because they would instantly think it’s a rock magazine because it is very conventional to use dark colours in a rock magazine. Also I used similar fonts to other rock magazines. If I used unconventional fonts then the audience would get very confused and might not be able to figure out what genre the magazine is. I noticed that it is very important to use unconventional methods in an appropriate way because in the marketing business if the audience didn’t understand which genre the magazine is the they wont want to buy the magazine, then this would mean that people would loose interest in the magazine and this would be a huge disadvantage for advertising the magazine. Final Double page spread Mock up of my double page spread

4. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? There are a number of stores that would sell my magazine such as: Super market WHSmiths Record stores NEWSAGENTS Newsagents and WHSmiths would sell these magazines because they try and sell a wide range of magazines to capture as many peoples attention as possible so that people feel obliged to go into the shop. Newsagents try and do this so that the customers that buy the magazine could buy something else as well. For example if a child went in and brought a CBBC magazine , they might see some sweets that they like and this means they would ask their parents to get both items because this is what the newsagents aim to do. Supermarkets would sell my magazine because they try and sell as much as possible so that you will buy all items from that one store to make it easier for the customer. Also record stores would sell my magazine because in record stores they sell music anyway and music magazines are advertising music and cds so the record stores would want you buy these magazines because they promote their products.

5. Who would be the audience for your media product ? When producing my media product I was aiming to advertise my products at anyone who is interested in rock and indie music. I didn’t plan to target any gender in particularly because I didn’t want to only attract one type of gender because that would restrict who would buy my magazine if I were to publish it. I made sure that I didn’t attract only one type of gender by using both male and female pictures in the magazine ,also I used male and female news in my magazine and I also used male and female bands in the magazine. To enhance that the magazine is aimed at both genders , on my double page spread I used ‘boys vs. girls’ to attract both genders so that they both would be interested in my magazine. I also made sure that I am not advertising a one sided storey because by doing this I would be advertising and appealing to one type of gender more than the other so I made sure I maintained the information equality.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? I have learned so much whilst producing my products on Microsoft fireworks. I have never used fireworks before I took media as a subject. My skills have dramatically improved from when I first started the course. When I started making my magazine products I made them look unprofessional and basically completely unconventional. I used bright colours and I used plain ideas and it looked childish. For example it looked like this : Preliminary project Through out the course I have dramatically improved to make my projects look professional and realistic. My project progressed into this : I also learned a lot about using a camera and using different angles and using different lights to get the right effect for your picture. I took a lot of pictures when producing my projects. At the start of the course I fount taking pictures the easiest part of making the magazine I quickly learned that costumes and colours can represent and they can present the magazine very well to advertise the magazine. The pictures that are used in any kind of magazine are very important to attract peoples attention and if you cant attract audience by a famous face the you have to become creative and think of anther way of making the magazine stand out. For my magazine I decided to advertise already known bands but because I couldn’t use pictures of well known artists I had to think of something else, I decided to advertise a new band that people haven't heard of before and also to advertise a male and female competition because they are popular in magazine’s and also on TV shows because it gets most people involved because it is the ‘battle of the sex’s’. Final contents page

7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? I believe that I have highly progressed from when I made my preliminary products. When making my pre projects I produced them on Microsoft publisher and by using this software I feel like I was restricted in which ways to present my products. So after I produced my preliminary projects I started to use fireworks and I looked around different magazines to get ideas for my own magazine. By doing this my skills progressed and advanced and I managed to produce a product that I was pleased with and looked more professional and more attractive then what I produced for my preliminary product. I now know how to present my work and how to layout my work in an appropriate way for a music magazine. I know how to chose and match fonts so they look appropriate .I also know how to present my pictures and to edit my pictures to make them look suitable for the right kind of magazine. I have learned a lot through-out the course and I am now pleased with the final products that I have produced.

8. Below are my projects and how they have progressed through the course: